A. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a system and method for enhanced message notification. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for providing message notification in an environment having multiple message notification technologies.
B. Description of Related Art
Voice mail is an extremely useful business and personal tool that allows callers to leave a voice message when the called party is not available to take an incoming call directly. As such, voice mail has been implemented by many telephone carriers, both wireline and wireless, as an additional benefit for their subscribers.
In a typical application, a call to a subscriber is routed to the subscriber's home switch. If the subscriber's communication terminal is not available or if the subscriber does not respond to a call page over the communication network, the switch forwards the call and information regarding the subscriber, including the subscriber's phone number, to a Voice Mail System (VMS). The VMS then records a message from the caller and stores the message in a “mailbox” associated with the subscriber's identifier (e.g. phone number) for later retrieval by the subscriber.
Currently, when there is a new voice message in the mailbox, the VMS will generate a limited notification and alert the subscriber communication terminal to the presence of the new voice message. Upon receiving the notification, the subscriber can call in to the VMS to access their voice message, and listen to the message. This serving mechanism requires the subscriber to call into the VMS, authenticate themselves with their mailbox number and password, and interact with the VMS through multiple steps before being able to listen to their message and determine the identity of the caller and the importance of the message. Navigating through multiple new and saved messages can be tedious, as the messages must generally be reviewed in the order that they were received, potentially causing the subscriber to listen to multiple messages before reaching the desired message.
Additionally, other types of messages, such as e-mail, fax and other multimedia messages, have similar issues with identifying the party that left the message, determining the importance of the message, and navigating through the messages.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for providing message notification, where the notification is enhanced with an identifier of the party that left the message or the importance of the message. Additionally, there is a need for an improved interface to such messages that utilizes such enhanced notifications to simplify navigation through multiple messages.
Recently, the introduction of Java Wireless Messaging API supporting Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and efficient transport networks such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data rate for Global Evolution (EDGE) have provided enhanced notification and messaging capabilities. However, these developments have also created an environment where multiple notification and messaging technologies are in use. Subscriber terminals have diverse capabilities with respect to such technologies. For instance, some terminals may not be capable of receiving MMS or SMS format messages. Further, some terminals capable of receiving MMS format messages may support only selected multimedia formats (e.g. WAV but not MPEG4). Thus, it has been difficult for communication carriers to provide a single-carrier branded message notification client across all communication terminal vendors.
Therefore, there is a further need for a system and method for providing enhanced message notification in an environment having multiple messaging and notification technologies, and in an environment having subscriber communication terminals with diverse messaging and notification technology and file format capabilities.